Former guerilla rebel and VP declared El Salvador's president

Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a former leftist rebel commander and current vice president of El Salvador, has been declared the country's new president after a recount led by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

The announcement from election authorities came after the manual recount was requested by rival candidate Norman Quijano, the conservative mayor of the capital.

A razor-thin margin separated the two candidates in Sunday's presidential runoff, with both camps rushing to claim victory.

Less than 7,000 votes separated the two candidates after an initial tally was completed on Monday. Preliminary results showed Ceren won 51.11 percent of the votes, with 49.98 percent support for Quijano.

The manual tally confirmed the first results.

Quijano had said Sunday’s election was rife with fraud, demanding a ballot-by-ballot recount and urging international election observers to remain in the country.